Psalm 72:5-8 ~ The Message (MSG)

A Solomon Psalm

72 1-8 Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,the gift of just rule to the crown prince.May he judge your people rightly,be honorable to your meek and lowly.Let the mountains give exuberant witness;shape the hills with the contours of right living.Please stand up for the poor,help the children of the needy,come down hard on the cruel tyrants.Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—age after age after age.Be rainfall on cut grass,earth-refreshing rain showers.Let righteousness burst into blossomand peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.Rule from sea to sea,from the River to the Rim.

Psalm 89:37 ~ The Message (MSG)

19-37 A long time ago you spoke in a vision,you spoke to your faithful beloved:“I’ve crowned a hero,I chose the best I could find;I found David, my servant,poured holy oil on his head,And I’ll keep my hand steadily on him,yes, I’ll stick with him through thick and thin.No enemy will get the best of him,no scoundrel will do him in.I’ll weed out all who oppose him,I’ll clean out all who hate him.I’m with him for good and I’ll love him forever;I’ve set him on high—he’s riding high!I’ve put Ocean in his one hand, River in the other;he’ll call out, ‘Oh, my Father—my God, my Rock of Salvation!’Yes, I’m setting him apart as the First of the royal line,High King over all of earth’s kings.I’ll preserve him eternally in my love,I’ll faithfully do all I so solemnly promised.I’ll guarantee his family treeand underwrite his rule.If his children refuse to do what I tell them,if they refuse to walk in the way I show them,If they spit on the directions I give themand tear up the rules I post for them—I’ll rub their faces in the dirt of their rebellionand make them face the music.But I’ll never throw them out,never abandon or disown them.Do you think I’d withdraw my holy promise?or take back words I’d already spoken?I’ve given my word, my whole and holy word;do you think I would lie to David?His family tree is here for good,his sovereignty as sure as the sun,Dependable as the phases of the moon,inescapable as weather.”

Psalm 104:19-23 ~ The Message (MSG)

14-23 Oh yes, God brings grain from the land,wine to make people happy,Their faces glowing with health,a people well-fed and hearty.God’s trees are well-watered—the Lebanon cedars he planted.Birds build their nests in those trees;look—the stork at home in the treetop.Mountain goats climb about the cliffs;badgers burrow among the rocks.The moon keeps track of the seasons,the sun is in charge of each day.When it’s dark and night takes over,all the forest creatures come out.The young lions roar for their prey,clamoring to God for their supper.When the sun comes up, they vanish,lazily stretched out in their dens.Meanwhile, men and women go out to work,busy at their jobs until evening.

Proverbs 18:21 ~ The Message (MSG)

Ezekiel 21:18-22 ~ The Message (MSG)

18-22 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, lay out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take. Start them from the same place. Place a signpost at the beginning of each road. Post one sign to mark the road of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites. Post the other to mark the road to Judah and Fort Jerusalem. The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road and he decides by divination which of the two roads to take. He draws straws, he throws god-dice, he examines a goat liver. He opens his right hand: The omen says, ‘Head for Jerusalem!’ So he’s on his way with battering rams, roused to kill, sounding the battle cry, pounding down city gates, building siege works.

Luke 21:18-19 ~ The Message (MSG)

16-19 “You’ll even be turned in by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. Some of you will be killed. There’s no telling who will hate you because of me. Even so, every detail of your body and soul—even the hairs of your head!—is in my care; nothing of you will be lost. Staying with it—that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved.

John 18:21 ~ The Message (MSG)

The Interrogation

19-21 Annas interrogated Jesus regarding his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered, “I’ve spoken openly in public. I’ve taught regularly in meeting places and the Temple, where the Jews all come together. Everything has been out in the open. I’ve said nothing in secret. So why are you treating me like a conspirator? Question those who have been listening to me. They know well what I have said. My teachings have all been aboveboard.”

Psalm 148:3-5 ~ The Message (MSG)

148 1-5 Hallelujah!Praise God from heaven,praise him from the mountaintops;Praise him, all you his angels,praise him, all you his warriors,Praise him, sun and moon,praise him, you morning stars;Praise him, high heaven,praise him, heavenly rain clouds;Praise, oh let them praise the name of God—he spoke the word, and there they were!

Isaiah 24:23 ~ The Message (MSG)

21-23 That’s when God will call on the carpetrebel powers in the skies andRebel kings on earth.They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,Corralled and locked up in a jail,and then sentenced and put to hard labor.Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,Because God-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,Splendid and gloriousbefore all his leaders.

Revelation 21:23-27The Message (MSG)

21-27 The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.